Dear Colleagues:

 I wanted to update you on a number of efforts to grow enrollment at the University of Memphis. As  you know, President Martin has established a goal of increasing student enrollment by 1,000 each of the next two years.  Enrollment growth is critical for our future. We have already taken several steps.  First, we have partnered with a group to helps us increase U of M exposure beyond our traditional, regional boundaries, along with strategically grow our application pool.  As part of this effort, Enrollment Services will be able to concentrate more heavily on recruitment of admitted students, building our yield rate from this group of already interested and motivated students. Second, Enrollment Services has reached out directly to the colleges to engage them in the recruitment efforts.  Vice-provost Betty Huff is coordinating with deans to identify ways to get faculty directly involved. As many of you know, one of the most effective strategies for recruitment is direct faculty involvement with prospective students.  Third, Enrollment Services is in the process of moving to a “one stop shop” configuration, allowing seamless access to all elements for prospective students. This will result in a more friendly and accessible environment for applicants and matriculating students. Finally, we’re also exploring a potential external partnership for some of our online offerings in an effort to achieve some national reach, broaden student interest, and grow enrollment in targeted programs. 

 I’ll be reaching out to you about some of our new retention efforts as well.  We’ve discussed the need for student incentives, with a focus on performance based incentives that facilitate degree completion. I’ll provide an update soon.  The involvement and engagement of faculty is critical on both the recruitment and retention fronts.  Thank you for your assistance and support as we explore strategies for enrollment growth.

  Go Tigers!

 Regards, David